


kairos

by icemakestars



Series: ~✧An Ever-Fixed Mark✧~ [12]
Category: Fairy Tail
Genre: Bath Houses, F/F, Fluff, Love Confessions
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2018-12-02
Updated: 2018-12-02
Packaged: 2019-09-05 23:04:42
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 588
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/16820245
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/icemakestars/pseuds/icemakestars
Summary: kairos καιρός (greek, n.) - the perfect, delicate, crucial moment; the fleeting rightness of time and place that creates the opportune atmosphere for action, words, or movement.





	kairos

****Erza’s limbs were sore, and she stretched around the pain, groaning as she relaxed into the scorching hot water. The other women were either asleep or on a job, and Erza took advantage of this, of the peaceful serenity provided by an empty bathhouse and a dozen lit candles.

Her eyes flickered closed with the flames light, and she sunk lower against the tiles, breath evening out and mind clearing.

“I’ve just finished cleaning up for the night. Do you mind if I join you, Erza?” 

The red head did not open her eyes at the voice; she had already memorised every change in pitch, and every which way syllables could be rolled on the tongue. It was a voice that sung to her heart, and she held it close, with affection.

“Not at all, Mira.” 

She could hear Mirajane’s towel drop, felt the water ripple as another body joined hers, and yet Erza was calm, collected; the heat had made her head soft, and for once she was immune to the beauty and grace of the other woman. The heat from the candles and the steam was nothing compared to Mira’a body, and as she always did Erza wanted to touch it, to make Mirajane hers. 

When her eyes opened, she was full adjusted to the low lighting, but the way it shined through Mirajane’s hair, illuminating her skin, was elemental, ethereal; Erza was spellbound.

“You’re so beautiful.” 

The words slip from her mouth, but she does not regret them, not when the truth of them is as much of her as her own heart is. Mirajane starts, panics, and for a second Erza wonders what would have happened if she had said something similar as a teen, when her feelings for the other woman first became apparent. But nothing she could conjure would compare to Mirajane’s sweet smile and pink cheeks as she wraps her arms around herself, unsure, vulnerable, and more exquisite than Erza could ever hope to imagine.

“Thank you, Erza. So are you.”

A thick, tense silence settles between them, and Erza realises her mistake too late. The difference between knowing someone is attractive and being attracted to them is immense, and when you’re complimenting someone of the same gender, someone who you know intimately, it is easy for the misunderstanding to be made. 

Erza reaches forward, resting her hand on the space between Mirajane’s knee and thigh, and ensures that their eyes, no matter how uncertain, never stray from one another’s gaze.

“No, Mira, I truly mean it. You are so, completely and breathtakingly beautiful. Please never forget that.” 

Her voice is too loud, crisp, for the space that they have created with each other, but Erza does not mind as long as Mirajane hears her, and knows how earnest her words are.

Mirajane blinks slowly, her blue eyes wet and obscured slightly by the fringe that fell haphazardly across Mira’a forehead, and then she lurches forward, her hand finding stability on Erza’s knee, and presses their lips together. 

It lasts only seconds, is more a hesitant expression of emotion than anything solid, or tangible. But the sentiment is there, is enough, and both girls lean into each other, digest the sounds and smells that encompass them, neither one ready to let go of this timeless moment, or forget it. 

When they pull apart, their proximity is still intimate, and Erza thinks that, if she could stay this close to Mirajane for the rest of her life, how lucky she would be.


End file.
